EU governments agreed Friday to tax the windfall profits of oil and gas companies and to cap the revenues of some electricity generators as the cost of Europe’s energy crisis spirals higher. But energy ministers from the 27 EU member states failed to reach an agreement on a proposal by the European Commission to impose a price cap on imports of Russian natural gas.
Last week, finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said a plan to freeze energy bills for households and businesses would cost £60 billion for the first six months alone. But the total cost of the price cap — which will last for two years for households — could come to around £150 billion according to some experts, a figure that was included in Bruegel’s analysis.